Review: Night of the Fae

Night of the Fae by Lyneal Jenkins

My rating: 1.5 of 5 stars


Is there a prequel to this book? I didn't hate this book; I didn't find it okay either. So it stays at a 1.5 star for me. Since I truncate not round up, it shows up as a 1 star in Goodreads. In Night of the Fae, Ana Martin who is supposedly twenty six enters a twilight zone. Suddenly, she learns there is more to this world than humans. There are supernatural beings called the Siis. She knows one intimately - apparently her boyfriend, Gabriel, is a Siis. Long long time ago, in a world much different, a Siis made a grievous error. He created the Fae and ever since then, the Fae have been trying to get back at the race who begat them.

The concept of this story is decent and intriguing. The execution of it isn't to my preference and I ended up not enjoying the book. What didn’t work for me was whiny tone of Ana and the emotionally abusive side of Gabriel. The characters in this book is what killed it for me. When I don't like the characters, it makes it hard for me to enjoy the story. I'm distracted by my hopes for the characters to be killed off. Ana behaves foolishly and in a manner I would expect from a hormonal teenager. Several times I wanted to slap some sense into her. Because of her behaviour, it is easy to set her up as untrustworthy. Gabriel doesn't believe her when she shares with him some facts about his daughter. Now, from a character building perspective, I can appreciate Ana's inability to make good decisions to underscore her lack of credibility. Basically no one takes her seriously. This sets up for the majority of the conflicts, Ana's bad choices, regardless of her intent.

It is a puzzle to me why Gabriel would want someone like Ana. There is little about her which is appealing. It could just be that Gabriel gravitates towards emotional and impulsive women. The females in his life certain provide amble evidence of this preference. His secrets and refusal to communicate also generate several of the conflicts which end up feeling contrived. I guess broken Gabriel and hysterical Ana are a good match for each other.

The story pace is a bit sluggish for me. There is a lot of telling instead of showing which did make the story seem a bit longer. Dragging out information from Gabriel whilst Ana tried to prove herself worthy to the "mean girls" club with members from Gabriel's past became trying. When the story finally picks up near the end with a predictable betrayal and negative impact, I am past caring. I am wishing Ana and a couple of other characters die. The characters that I did find interesting and with a solid consistent purpose were the Fae. Whilst I can't exactly condone their actions, I kind of did root for them. There is still an unexplained backstory with the Siis and the current war going on which Gabriel abstains from. Perhaps in the next book, more will be revealed in a satisfactory manner. This tale is recommended for new adult readers who like a star crossed lover theme and teen angst.

* Review copy provided via Reading Alley in exchange for an honest review.




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